Prelude to the Storm
by mirroreddark
Summary: Sequel to A New Path: Jack opens up more of the world of magic to Harry as they enter into their second year at Hogwarts. Enemies rise in the shadows as changes alter the entire world. AU
1. Prologue: Portents

**Author's Note:** This is the sequel to my AU story A New Path and covers Harry's second year at Hogwarts. This story is a significant AU so read A New Path before this story.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter everything original is mine. I get no profit from this.

**Prologue:** **Portents **

_September 10, 1986_

_Death is something everyone fears in some way and something that most everyone has to come to accept at some point. I had thought that I had already accepted it. From the moment I held Jack in my arms I knew it was coming for me, an unstoppable presence at my back. I knew it would happen. But now I feel the blade at the back of my neck all that clearer. It was like the lightning bolt scar became the blade of cold steel I can feel even now. _

_Even now I still can scarcely believe that we found Harry Potter in that house. A drill company, Harry Potter thrust into our path because of a drill company! Galan had quite the laugh. Emily was shocked even though she was the one that had me buy the company. But it happened. I could barely speak when Jack pulled Harry out of that cupboard. A magus! It shouldn't have been possible. There shouldn't have been anyway for Harry Potter to be a magus, but it's not the only thing that has made me wary lately._

_But it's the only one that has unnerved me this much. My death is coming for me, I'm completely sure of it. I can't explain why but I know and seeing Harry Potter standing there in rags made it certain. Even though she hasn't said anything, I'm almost positive that Emily knows it as well. She has been very quite lately when we talk of the future. We are going to die, and probably within a year._

_It scares me to leave Jack when he is this young. Father dying when I was nineteen was hard enough, but six, hopefully seven? I can't begin to think what it will do to him. That much power and responsibility is too much for a kid his age. Erlor and Galan will help him, and Lucius in his own way, but still I worry._

_I see everything that has happened lately as portents of a change in the world. If it is what I think it is, it is what our family has both hoped for and feared for a long time. An impossibly uncertain chain of events and choices lies in the future and Jack will have to deal with it. I pray that he can survive it and do what is necessary. _

_Over a millennium of research by the family and Father figures out a way to break the seals on the well springs a year before he dies. And Jack is the strongest person born into the main line in ten generations. And I found Harry Potter because I wanted to go to Hogwarts and became interested in the British Isles. No it's no coincidence. If I didn't know better I would be tempted to call it fate. But maybe, maybe it was all just inevitable, that all the arguments about starting this since the well springs were first sealed were irrelevant, because it was going to happen anyway. As certain as death._

_In all of it, though the question of why Harry Potter is the trigger that troubles me the most. _

_ Darian Cronos_

#####################################################################################

The beat of hooves on the dirt and the rustling of manes were the only things that could be heard in a walled in clearing deep in the Forbidden Forest. The herd of centaurs stood at the top of the depression along the engraved boulder wall, waiting solemnly for the three people in the center of the enclosure to begin.

Jack stood at the edge of the pool in the center of the depression with Erlor Dragus and Haridan, the centaur elder, next to him. Erlor held a dagger of what appeared to be crystallized light in his hand. Flowing and flickering across the surface of the blade were runes that soon like rainbows from a prism. The trio stepped into the pool and approached the smoothed pyramidal stone and withered tree that stood in the center.

"It is only right that you have the honor, Elder," said Erlor as he held the dagger out towards Haridan. "You only need to pour magic into it and drive it towards the well."

Haridan nodded as he took dagger and moved right to the base of the stone. The crystal veins running through the stone pulsed with a dull inner light and the otherwise still air in the clearing was stirred into a breeze that swept around the boundaries of the clearing at a slow, ponderous pace.

"Magic is everything and flows through us all," Haridan's voice rang clear as he shook his braid of long silver hair so that is draped down his back. "This place is one were the magic comes into our world, but it was sealed long ago for reasons I do not know. Our people have stood watch over it for generations upon generations in hope that one day we could help bring the magic of this place back into the world. That time has now come. Lets us always remember this as the day we helped bring magic back to its full strength in our world."

The watching centaurs gave a resounding yell of support and then fell silent again as Haridan took the dagger in both hands and raised it above his head. The dagger began to glow with a pure white light as he poured magic into the blade. In one swift motion Haridan brought the blade down towards the surface of the stone. It slowed as if meeting a large resistance as it got within a foot of the stone. A flash of red light came out of the very air around the blade as it stopped an inch before the tip tuched the stone.

In a blaze of light and motion a web of red runes appeared wrapped around the stone and the tree. Branching trails of runic characters curled around branches, bent around the edges of the stone, and followed the crystal veins. Four of the trails came off the corners of the pyramid and went to the edges of the pool before forming a circle of larger runes around the edge.

Giving a cry of determination, Haridan poured more magic into the blade. With a burst of light the tip pierced the seal and touched the surface of the stone. From where the blade had pierced the runes of the seal turned white. The change continued in a wave that traveled along until the entire seal was the color of starlight before shattering and turning into a rain of small star like pieces of magic.

A pulse of magic burst from the stone and hit the boulder wall resulting in a deep sound like a gong. Soft blue light began to light the crystal veins and spread across the clearing as the last of the rain of light disappeared. As it passed through the watching crowd of centaur and hit the carvings on the boulder wall they seemed to come alive.

Another pulse of magic came from the well and as it left the clearing the light of the stars in the night sky seemed to stretch down from the heavens toward the well. Threads of starlight came down and wrapped themselves around the withered tree and sunk into its bark. A third pulse of magic shattered the threads as the tree came back to life. Thin lines of silver seemed to dance in the rich brown bark as leaves the same color as the starlight threads grew on the branches. Soft light falling came off the leaves and illuminated the clearing while the centaurs looked on in awe. The air itself felt heavy with the magic that was now pouring out of the well.

"It is done," said Haridan as he walked over and handed the dagger back to Erlor. "On behalf of my herd, I cannot thank you enough for making this possible. We will guard the well and prevent anyone from ever attempting to seal it again. You are always welcome here and if you ever have need of our help do not hesitate to ask."

"Thank you Elder," said Erlor, as they made their way out of the pool and to the exit of the clearing. "May your herd be safe and prosperous, and if you ever need assistance send word to Jack at the castle. Now will leave you and your tribe to celebrate. Jack and I have a few more wells to unseal before we leave the country."

"I wish you well. It is a great thing you are doing returning magic to its proper place in this world. I wish you luck," Haridan replied before bowing and moving back in to the clearing to celebrate with his people.

Jack and Erlor began walking out of the centaur village and towards the edge of the forest.

"Let's break the one below Hogwarts next," said Jack.

#####################################################################################

Lucius took another sip of wine as he sat in his study. His contacts at the ministry had informed him that Arthur Weasley was leading another push to investigate those people under suspicion for owning dark artifacts. He did of course, most were family heirlooms that were already documented by the Ministry. Several, though, were things the family had never admitted to owning or left over from his days as a Death Eater during the first war. And then there was the small book locked and warded in the deepest corner of the manor.

Even if Weasley and the Ministry lackeys searched the entire manor they didn't have a chance of finding anything, but still it weighed heavily on his mind. The Dark Lord had entrusted it to him with a severe warning that it never be touched until the Dark Lord specifically gave instructions about the book. Lucius had no idea what the thing even did, and he hadn't tried to find out either, just locked it away as ordered.

But now it worried him greatly. Something had happened at Hogwarts a few weeks ago. Jack and the Potter boy had both ended up in the hospital wing for several days after _something _happened below the castle. He hadn't been able to get anything out of Dumbledore and Jack had given him a stern look and asked him where he stood on the issue of the Dark Lord. He was not having that conversation.

Lucius didn't regret taking the dark mark that he was sure of, but if he had to do it again he would probably have listened to Darian and avoided joining the Dark Lord directly. In the end it hadn't benefited him much and put his family under a large amount of stress after the war ended.

His conversations with Severus lately had been disturbing and centered on the Dark Lord's possible return. Based on that and the incident at Hogwarts he was very wary. If the Dark Lord returned things would get very interesting and not in the best of ways.

Sighing, he set down his wine glass. Things were getting uncertain and Lucius needed to be careful. With the way things were going in the Ministry and at Hogwarts any association with the Dark Lord, no matter how little chance of discovery, could not be tolerated. He needed to get rid of that book, and a few other things, but how?

**AN:** So here is the start of the second story. Its short but I wanted to do a few things before diving into the main story. I had planned to get more written this weekend, but got stuck spending time with family.


	2. Can't Go Back Now

**Author's Note:** This is the sequel to my AU story A New Path and covers Harry's second year at Hogwarts. This story is a significant AU so read A New Path before this story.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter everything original is mine. I get no profit from this.

**Chapter 1: ****Can't Go Back Now**

It had taken only a few days for Harry to become bored after getting back to the Dursleys. He had gone about his chores, taken walks in the nearby parks, and read his textbooks but nothing helped. Compared to Hogwarts where he had all of Gryffindor to hang out with, a castle to explore, and magic to practice ,life on Privet Drive was exceedingly dull.

Harry had taken to keeping his Sight up as much as possible simply because it gave him something to do. Watching the flow of magic through the trees and plants while he was gardening had given him something to interesting to think about. The wards on the house had been another matter entirely. Jagged angles and sharp corners were everywhere in the spell patterns of the wards. They raced unrestricted and frantic not just around the house but the yard as well. Whenever someone entered the property portions of the spell patterns would reach out like spikes and ran jagged spikes over them before retreating. It made Harry's head hurt just looking at it.

So he had spent the entire week seeing if he could lower the intensity of his Sight where that ward was concerned without affecting how he saw anything else. Sort of like what the charmed necklace Jack had given him did when he looked at the auras of other wizards. Now a week after he had got back he had managed to dim it somewhat. It had helped decrease the headaches a little, but he would need to get better at it.

Sighing he set down the charms book he had been reading and collapsed back on to his bed. Jack had sent him a letter saying he would be by sometime today to pick Harry up to do whatever he had planned for the summer. The waiting was killing Harry. He wanted to get out of here and do something! Everything he owned was packed in his trunk and ready to go. Actually he hadn't even bothered to unpack when he got back.

After an hour of staring at the ceiling the doorbell finally rang. Bolting out of bed, Harry was down the staircase and was to the front door before his aunt had even made it out of the kitchen. Stopping just short of running himself into the door, Harry pulled it open. Jack stood on the doorstep and snickered as he caught sight of Harry catching his breath. Next to him stood a rather nondescript man in a suit.

"Hello again, Harry, it's been awhile," said the man.

"Hey Mr. Thompson," Harry replied. Mr. Thompson was the person who had come by from time to time to check up on Harry's well-being. He worked for Jack's company and had always been kind to Harry, even if they only saw each other occasionally.

"Well, I am going to go have a word with your aunt and then we will be off," said Thompson. "Is your trunk ready in your room?" Harry nodded. "Good I'll get it on the way out. You two head out to the car."

Thompson headed towards the kitchen as Harry stepped out of the house and closed the door behind him. He and Jack headed out towards the black sedan that sat on the street in front of Number 4.

"So, a little anxious for me to get here?" asked Jack.

"I've been incredibly bored," Harry retorted. "Plus what do you expect when you wrote me that we were going out of the country?"

Jack just laughed and pulled the door open as they got to the car. Harry climbed in and stopped; the interior of the car was about five times bigger than it should be. Fine leather seats covered every wall and left plenty of room for a table to sit in the middle. Climbing farther into car Harry collapsed into one of the seats only to have Fen appear out of nowhere and dropped his head onto Harry's lap begging to be petted. Harry started scratching him behind the ears and settled back into the seat. Jack climbed in and closed the door before dropping into the seat across from Harry.

Harry spent the time until Thompson came back out with Harry's trunk telling Jack about his week and catching up. Thompson proceeded to get in the front and start the car.

"Time to get this summer started," Jack said with a grin.

"What exactly are we doing?" asked Harry.

"Training and bringing you up to speed on the rest of the world while relaxing as much as possible," replied Jack.

Remembering being helpless in front of Voldemort last year crept into Harry's head and he shuddered. "That sounds good."

"You're going to be able to fight him next time, Harry. I promise you that," said Jack solemnly.

"Thanks, I know you'll help, so next time don't get caught in a trap before Voldemort even shows up."

"Yeah, I'll try to avoid that," said Jack dryly. "Next time we'll both be better prepared."

"What happened to you after I left you?"

"That trap was intense. I think Dumbledore only meant to trap Voldemort and hold him. When he altered the trap, Voldemort tried to make it kill the person that passed through, but it didn't really work. So it tore me up a little, but I was able to ground the magic through me and into the castle until the trap ran out of energy," explained Jack. "I was lucky it worked, really. I hadn't tried anything like that before, just read about it."

"Damn, I need to learn that. Maybe I could have stopped Quirrell from binding me."

"Honestly you were probably better off getting caught. Do you think he would have bothered to keep you alive if you proved too annoying to catch?" Jack asked.

Harry gulped. "Uh, probably not." He hadn't thought of that. Exactly what would have he have done if he had dodged Quirrell's first strike.

"Then let's leave off the valiant duels till you can actually fight"

"Right," said Harry.

#####################################################################################

Thompson took them to London and into the business district. He pulled the car through a wrought iron gate and into a walled off courtyard. A ten story glass fronted building at the end of the turnaround in front of a well manicured garden. Thompson dropped Jack, Harry and Fen off at the front entrance before saying goodbye and taking the car off to a car park.

"Where are we?" asked Harry.

"British headquarters of Prometheus Incorporated, my family's company," replied Jack.

"You own this?"

"Yep," said Jack. "Come on lets go."

Jack led Harry through the front doors, and into a spacious lobby. The receptionist looked up and smiled before going back to work. Harry followed Jack towards a side hallway that half the people in the lobby seemed to be ignoring.

"Non-magical people can't see this part of the building can they?" asked Harry when they were further away from the lobby.

"Nope. We do business with people both magical and non-magical here so the building is split into magical and non-magical parts because of the Statute of Secrecy. Stupid law, but everything has to be kept separate anyway. Most of our employees no matter if they can do magic or not know about it, so most of the actually work here gets done in the magical part of the building. Everything strictly non-magical is handled through the main lobby. Everything else is through here." Jack pushed open a pair of thick wooden doors at the end of the hallway.

In front of them was a cavernous room that was easily two blocks across. The room was a giant quarter sphere that had ten levels open to the courtyard that held the entryway Harry and Jack had just stepped into. Glass formed the walls, ceilings, and floors with varying level of opaqueness.

Harry gawked as Jack led him towards the other side of the room.

"My family has been traders and merchants of some sort for our entire history. So we have interests in real estate, potion ingredients, mining, enchanting, publishing, etc… Not to mention legal and diplomatic work. This office handles the operations for most of Europe," Jack explained.

"All these people aren't wizards?" asked Harry.

"Nope. We hire people based on skills. We have magical and non-magical people working here. Most of the non-magicals have family members that are magical, but some got introduced to the magical world after they got hired on. My family has always been for as much cooperation as possible between the non-magical and magical worlds."

"But that isn't usual?"

"No. Honestly the Ministry would throw a fit if they realized that we had non-magical people working here. My father used to say that we kindly don't inform them of the fact to help keep their blood pressure down." Jack grinned as Harry laughed and went back to looking around the room.

Harry could see several hundred people working on the different levels. Glass walls would suddenly turn dark as meetings started blocking the view into offices. As they walked under the bottom level Harry looked up through the glass into the floors above, watching people scurrying around working. Colors slowly rippled through the glass in waves and patterns just bright enough so he could pick out the different floors but not overwhelming enough to cover the fact that everything was made from glass.

"I didn't know any place like this existed," said Harry.

Jack just gave him a quirky smile. "Impressive, right? Being on the top level is a little creepy until you get used to it."

At the other end of the room they stopped in front of a door set into the curved wall. Another entry lobby was set up in front of it. Again the receptionist just nodded at Jack as they walked past. Fen bolted through the door as Jack pulled it open and motioned Harry through. He stepped through into an alley that reminded him of Diagon. It was a little higher class but had the same renaissance era feel to it. Harry turned back towards the door just as Jack was closing it. The building was simple but upscale in a way that fit the alley but still stood out as nicer than most of the buildings around it. There were windows on the three story facade but they were darkened so nothing could be seen through them. A brass plague hung on the wall next to the door and simply had Prometheus, Inc. engraved on it. If Harry hadn't known what the building held he probably wouldn't have given it a second glance.

"Where are we?" asked Harry.

"Diagon. One of the side alleys actually, but none of them are named except Knockturn. Diagon Alley is sort of a coverall name for the area," replied Jack.

"What's Knockturn?"

"It's a side alley known for being gritty and generally dealing in things that are less socially acceptable and borderline or downright illegal. It's not exactly the safest place in the world," Jack answered as they set off down the alley. "The black market operates out of there and it's were magical objects that have been classified 'Dark' tend to trade hands."

"Why doesn't the Ministry shut it down then?"

"No idea. Britain as a whole is pretty corrupt in its government and politics, so that's probably part of it. I've never particularly cared really. Dad and Uncle Lucius never let me near the place."

"Never mind then. How are we going to leave the country from Diagon Alley?" asked Harry.

"Oh, come on! Don't make me ruin the surprise."Jack just smiled and kept walking. In a few minutes they came through an opening between two buildings into the part of Diagon Alley that Harry was used to. Looking around Harry had found that they had come across from Ollivander's and close to Gringotts. Jack turned and made his way towards the bank.

The goblin guards flanking the bronze doors were as fierce looking as always and barely gave them a glance as they passed through the doors. Goblin tellers were busy at their raised desks as Harry followed Jack and Fen through the crowds and lines of people waiting to do business at the bank. Finally Jack turned into an opening in the teller stations and with a nod to the goblins standing guard there he led Harry through a door and in to a stone hallway.

Intricate engravings of goblin history lined the walls. Inlaid precious metals and gemstones highlighted what seemed to be more important events. At the end of the hallway was a goblin sitting at a stone desk that seemed to have been crafted directly from the marbled floor. A crest inlaid on the front of the desk that caught Harry's attention. It seemed to be three circles each with distinctive marking in the center arranged so all three were touching and formed a triangle. One circle was slightly larger than the others and they were surrounded by an octagon formed by a strange script. The goblin looked up as they stepped up to the front of the desk.

"Master Cronos. How may Gringotts serve you today?" asked the goblin.

"I'm here to use the portal, Ragnoral," answered Jack.

"Of course. If that is all?" Jack nodded. "Then go on through. There are no major passages scheduled for today so there should be no wait. Have a pleasant trip, Master Cronos, Mr. Potter."

The goblin mumbled something and a panel in the wall slid aside to reveal a set of stairs.

"Thank you. May the Moons give favor to your Clan. Come on Harry."

Harry was completely confused about what was going on but he followed Jack down the set of spiral stairs. Crystals hung at intervals along the walls lit the stairs well as they descended. It only took a few minutes before the staircase emptied them out into a natural cave not unlike the tunnels the Gringotts vaults were in.

Looking around Harry could see several other staircases set into the wall other than the one that they just exited set into the side walls. Further into the room four goblins guards stood in front of an archway carved into the stone of a gigantic pillar that monopolized the center of the room. Runes of characters similar to the goblin script Harry had seen before ran in three thick lines around the archway.

The goblins guarding the archway were different than those that Harry had seen in Gringotts proper. Though they carried the same spears that the guards above did, their armor was much more evident. Midnight blue plates of metal formed a suit of armor and helmet that Harry could tell would be very hard to get past. He also caught the edge of hard solid magic flowing through the plates, obviously a strong set of protective magics. The goblins themselves also gave off a distinct air of trained fierceness that had to come from battle training. Harry shivered, and to think most wizards thought _normal_ goblins were creepy.

One of the goblins gave them a long look as they came to stop in front of the archway then muttered something in a language Harry didn't recognize. A wave of magic flowed over them causing Harry's skin to feel like it was pressed up against cold stone.

"You are cleared to pass through. You will abide by the accepted laws of conduct for the duration of your time in Ka'tonchal," spoke the goblin after the wave of magic had dissipated. He then turned around and placed a hand over the rune lines on the archway. Another muttered phrase and the runes seemed to shift on the stone. A slow pulse of magic came out from the archway and the stone inside the arch rippled like water.

"Go ahead Harry," said Jack. "Walk on through."

"What is that?" asked Harry. He swore one of the goblins chuckled. Jack just gave a short laugh and gave Harry a look that clearly said he should find out for himself.

Harry stepped up to the stone archway and paused. Ripples were flowing in lazy patterns around the surface contained in the rune archway. Taking a breath Harry stepped through the stone. A rushing feeling overcame him and his vision blurred out for a second. Less than a second later a cold wind brushed across his skin as Harry blinked to get his bearings.

He was standing about five feet from the edge of a cliff. Looking from side to side Harry discovered he was in a huge canyon that stretched farther than he could see in either direction. Buildings covered the edges of the canyon, bridges connected the sides in the areas were the span on the canyon were close or between the spires that rose from the wider sections, and towers dotted the edges of precipices and overhangs. Stepping forward to the edge of the cliff Harry looked over the edge. Darkness swallowed his vision before Harry could make out the bottom. The noise of a bustling city was carried on the wind that whipped down the canyon.

Harry looked up into a sky lit brightly with stars. Three moons hung high among the stars shining pale light over the canyon. It struck Harry that the markings on the moons matched those on the crest he had seen at Gringotts. Why that popped into his head he had no idea. Especially when what should have been slapping him in the face was the fact that he had just been in London in the middle of the day and now he had traveled to _somewhere_ that was in the dead of the night. Fen knocked him out of his musing by nearly bowling over his legs. Jack was standing in front of a ripple hanging in the air between two carved pillars made of a material that resembled both metal and crystal when Harry turned around.

"So, Harry, do you want to get something to eat?"

**AN:** I have a beta! Thanks a bunch to thunderous for taking the time to look over this chapter for me. Sorry this took awhile blame way too much over time at work. Anyway hope everyone enjoys the chapter! Reviews as always are appreciated.

**Review Responses:** Thanks to Sabriel666, greypilgrim1776, Selene Ann Potter, jay-brown2210, Therio, and RRW for the reviews. It was great to hear from you and I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.


	3. Monuments of Stone

**Author's Note:** This is the sequel to my AU story A New Path and covers Harry's second year at Hogwarts. This story is a significant AU so read A New Path before this story.

This chapter is significant world building and a lot of information.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter everything original is mine. I get no profit from this.

**Chapter 2: Monuments of Stone**

"Eat?" Harry asked incredulously. "Sure let's eat. Where in the world we are can't possibly be important!"

"We are standing in Ka'tonchal, the capital city of the goblin nation in the Realm of Garntor," answered Jack with a smirk. "I'll explain everything, but let's head to a restaurant. This could take a little while."

Harry agreed and began following Jack along the cliffs of the city. Light from the triple moons gave a soft illumination that was complemented by low lighting built into the various buildings along their path. Sculptures, grandiose columns, and carved reliefs were everywhere subtly inlaid with crystal, metal, and gems that gave character and depths to the grey granite of the canyon walls. The architecture mimicked a natural canyon with smooth curves transitioning to sharp juts and corners. Interlocking patterns were carved into the stone of the walkways. Together the city spoke to Harry of the grandeur, and the might of a strong race.

Though the city's architecture and artistic design where breathtaking, Harry was just as captivated by the beings that were sharing the walkways with them. They had passed goblin guards similar to those by the portals, others wearing intricate scrolled robes and jackets , and even a pair of goblins in close fitting leathers arguing over what appeared to be an indecipherable three dimensional diagram coming from a rectangle of blue metal held between them.

Then three beings wearing long, heavy furs that shimmered between dark gray and navy in the moonlight passed them. They could have passed for human except that their eyes were black around the pupils instead white and had a sheen like opals. Further on they passed a group of humans whose coats where adorned in a metal that looked like freshly polished copper and had sigils tattooed along the right sides of their faces from the hairline to the jaw. Finally a pair of reptilian beings who looked like a mix between a frilled lizard and a human passed with an air of hostility. They were dressed in scaled armor and glared at every goblin they passed.

It was a lot to take in for Harry. Going to Hogwarts in Scotland was the farthest he had been away from Privet Drive his whole life and now he was standing somewhere completely otherworldly. His world was expanding exponentially, and it was exhilarating. Despite his annoyance at Jack's habit of holding back information to add to the surprise, Harry was excited to step out into the expansive world Jack was showing him. Walking through this ancient goblin city, for Harry could feel the old magic flowing through the stones beneath his feet, sent shivers through his spine.

Emotion beyond wonder gripped him as they paused on a bridge that spanned a small off shoot of the main canyon and looked out into the main chasm. The bottom was close enough to see in this area and a sprawling landscape of buildings could be seen. Rippling over rises and spiraling up around the base of spire and plateaus that rose from the stone the city seemed a natural part of the landscape. Towering airy structures rose from the plateaus and the terraces and windows on the spire that rose closest to where they were standing were incorporated into a sweeping carving that depicted a war that covered the entire spire. Where the moonlight hit the carving it seemed to turn almost silver and the shadowed areas gave the illusion that the carved goblins could come to life at the barest provocation. They stood there for awhile just taking in the breathtaking view before Jack lead Harry onward.

#####################################################################################

A spherical grotto in the wall of the canyon held the restaurant they had been heading to. Their waiter, a surprisingly courteous and friendly goblin, led them to a small rectangle platform that rose from the ground when they stepped onto it. The platform brought them to an alcove carved into the wall about half way up the sphere. Harry settled into the benches around a low table in the center of the alcove and took a minute to look over the rest of the restaurant. Surprisingly comfortable leather lined the stone benches and the table was decorated with the combined curves and sharp corners that seemed to define goblin art. Arcs and vine looking lines where mixed with geometric shapes and zigzags.

Drawing his eyes the most was a gigantic crystal growing out of the bottom of the sphere. It grew thick at the bottom and then began to branch out like a tree as it reached towards the ceiling. Branches curved in long loops and spirals filling most of the sphere. The platform that had brought them to the alcove had swerved between them to reach its destination. Harry could make out most of the opposite side of the restaurant but the nature of the crystal structure prevented a clear view of the other alcove provide privacy. A blue green glow emanated from the crystal providing light to the restaurant in a soft warm glow.

Jack had ordered for them both since Harry had no idea what to eat at a goblin run restaurant. Harry ended up with a pasta-like dish that was pretty good. Jack had gotten something similar for himself and a plate of meat for Fen who was lounging under the table. After their waiter had left and they had dug into the food Jack reached towards a carving in the center of the table that stood out from the others. He pushed down on the corner and then traced the pattern. A blue green glow identical to the light from the crystal appeared along the path Jack had traced and when he traced back to the start of the carving it flashed and Harry felt a wall of magic form over the entrance to the alcove.

"Privacy ward," Jack answered Harry's questioning look. "No one will bother us while it's up or be able to hear what we are talking about."

"Great now where they heck are we?" asked Harry. "You said the Realm of Garntor, where and what is that?"

"Ok let's start with what a realm is," said Jack as he leaned back. "Basically a realm is a self contained pocket of space, or at least that's how it was explained to me. They are natural magic constructs that exist alongside Earth."

"So we are in a separate world attached to Earth by magic?"

"Sort of. Realms aren't fully formed worlds in and of themselves. They are pockets of reality that have definite boundaries and limits."

"Like maybe, uh" Harry thought for a moment before an idea came to him, "A snow globe."

"Actually that's a good example. Like here in this realm you can't get to the moons and if you go far enough you hit impossibly tall and impassable cliffs," replied Jack.

"So that portal we passed through in Gringotts was a connection between Earth and Garntor?" asked Harry.

"Exactly. The Realms are permanently connected and dependent on Earth. If a realm was ever destroyed it wouldn't affect more than the magic flow around the portal or portals to it on Earth. But if Earth were ever destroyed ever realm attached to it would cease to exist. The realms cannot exist without Earth."

"How many realms are there then?"

"No idea really, a lot. My family has mapped out several hundred over the years, but we don't think we got them all," answered Jack.

"Hundreds?" Harry was shocked. "There are hundreds of realms this big out there?"

"Oh, no, not at all," said Jack shaking his head. "Realms vary greatly in size. Grantor where we are now is about half the size of Earth. That's on the high side. There are realms that are no bigger than a large hall. Then there are three that are larger than Earth itself and could almost be considered worlds unto themselves if they weren't so tied to Earth its self."

"Wow, then those beings that we passed and even the humans were from another realm?"

"Yep. There are five or six sentient races that live exclusively in the realms. That group of humans was from the Realm of Trace Lignar. It is split into three different human nations that are in a constant state of cold war. None of them happen to like humans from Earth."

"Why?"

"Because we are backward, prejudice and unenlightened," Jack answered with a roll of his eyes. "They are a set of societies built completely of magic. They highly dislike that Earth is mainly controlled by non-magical people who refuse to believe that magic exists."

"Stupid."

"No kidding. But they aren't likely to change anytime soon. Anyway, most of the races that live in the realms use magic of some sort. The portals between Earth and the Realms and between the Realms themselves serve as transportation and trade routes between all the different races and countries."

"Wait a minute," Harry said puzzled. "How come we aren't taught this at Hogwarts? I mean Binns spent practically the whole year on goblin wars. Granted I slept through most of it, but I'm sure Hermione would have been obsessed the idea of the realms and the goblin nation if we had covered it."

"Well, that would be because as far as most of Europe is concerned, officially, the Realms don't exist. They don't seem to want to consider that there are places out there that humans don't control. I know that there are portals all across Europe. Heck, my family discovered most of them, but folklore always labeled them as gateways of evil or dark magic and people avoid them," Jack answered with a shrug. "Honestly outside were my family is directly involved in it, my knowledge of European history is really bad."

"Weird. I mean how can you label a portal to another place evil? Even so, you would think at least this realm would be known after the Goblin Rebellions. I can't beleive that the nation that built this city would allow humans to walk over them," stated Harry.

"The goblins in Britain and Europe we were studying aren't part of the Goblin Nation," answered Jack. "They are goblins that live exclusively in clans on Earth. The only goblins that are a part of the Goblin nation on Earth are in the Americas or work for Gringotts. Offers to join the Goblin nation were delivered but never accepted as far as I know. Thus the goblins that fought in the rebellions were only from the clans that live only on Earth."

"And the Goblin nation didn't get involved. Let me guess they weren't even in Europe until Gringotts was founded."

"Right in one. The goblin nation founded Gringotts with help from interested parties on Earth to give them a foothold. I mean it's such a coincidence that the location of every Gringotts bank just happens to be over a portal to Garntor."

"Of course," replied Harry sarcastically. "And by interested parties you mean your family."

"Well yes," answered Jack shrugging. "We had been blood allies with the goblin nation for a long time at that point I believe so we helped arrange everything."

"How did you get to be allies with the goblins?" asked Harry. "They have never come across as exactly _friendly_ to humans to me."

"They aren't, usually. Goblins are vicious, calculating and intelligent and thus have a dislike for basically every other species. Actually the "how we became allies" story has to do with the history of this realm. Garntor is settled mainly by the goblins now but originally it was uninhabited. Then both the goblin race and another race, the Hortmaw, the lizard guys we passed on the way here, discovered it at the same time.

Both races are vicious and violent in nature and both are big in mining and working metal. Garntor is incredibly rich in minerals and ores. But it goes beyond that. The magic of this realm is unique in all the known Realms in that there are certain flows of magic here that actually cause minerals, ores, and rock to _grow _as if they were plants."

"Rock can grow here?" Harry was completely blown away.

"Oh, yeah," said Jack. "Actually that's how that crystal sculpture over there was made. The goblins have become experts in controlling and altering that specific flow of magic so that it only causes growth in areas they want. They also developed a technique to use some sort of barrier to shape the growth. But good luck trying to get how they do any of it out of them. Heck, they don't even tell people why that particular type of magic flow causes growth in non-organic material like rock and metal."

"That definitely sounds like the goblins," said Harry.

"Yeah, but getting back to why we're allies. For awhile the goblins and the Hortmaw didn't have any problems mainly because they hadn't encountered each other yet. Eventually they did run into each other though and it got nasty."

"They went to war over the realm. Neither of them wanted to share it," guessed Harry.

"Oh yeah. In fact both races nearly abandoned every settlement in the realms they came from and moved all their people to Garntor. They were at war for over three thousand years. In fact this city, Ka'tonchal, was built during the second millennia of the war. The goblins spent nearly a thousand years growing the plateau that this canyon sits in."

"But this canyon has to be several miles deep in places and miles and miles long," said Harry.

"It's something like five miles deep at its lowest point and around thirty miles long," stated Jack. "And the goblins planned and grew the whole thing over a canyon that was already here. The city stretches basically the entire length as well. It's a marvel beyond comprehension really."

"I'd say. That's mind blowing."

"Yeah, but anyway the war became a completely stalemate as it passed the three thousand year mark. The goblins had control of most of the realm but they couldn't ever completely drive the Hortmaw out. To counter it the Hortmaw had developed magics that could possibly destroy the entire realm if they couldn't take control of it.

My family had started trading with both races for medical supplies during the course of the war. We had declared ourselves neutral and acted as middlemen to bring some of the mined ores and minerals out of Garntor to other realms that wanted them but didn't want to get involved in the fight. My ancestors had been trying the entire time to stop the war, but when the war stalemated they finally got both sides to agree to peace talks. Neither the Goblins nor the Hortmaw truly wished to risk the destruction of the realm.

My ancestor ended up negotiating a deal between the Goblins, the Hortmaw, and our family to end the war. The goblins were given control over the realm and most of the rights to the ore and mineral deposits. The Hortmaw retained a small area of the realm to mine. It also contains the only vein of the most valuable metal ore in the realm."

"Why would the goblins agree to that?" asked Harry.

"Because as a by-product of the growth of that ore a gas that is toxic to goblins is released so it is incredibly hard for them to mine it," explained Jack. "The Hortmaw are not affected badly by the gas, so they can mine that ore easily. Also my family turned over the location of an uninhabited realm that contained plenty of ore deposits even if it didn't have the unique growth effect. There is still a ton of bad blood between the races even now around two thousand years later."

"The goblins still probably got the better end of the deal," replied Harry. "So you became allies after that. Your family is rich because you were the main source of trade and information between the Realms aren't you?"

"That's most of it. Plus a few thousand years of interest in various banks helps," drawled Jack.

#####################################################################################

Jack told Harry a little more about the goblin nation while they finished the rest of the meal and left the restaurant. They walked further into the city and towards one of the spires. After passing a set of grand buildings in several styles different from those of the goblins that Jack told him were a few of the embassies to the goblin nation and quite a few guards, they entered a doorway cut into the side of a plateau. Inside was a large dome ceilinged hall that served as a grand entry way. On the opposite side was a large set of double doors that lead to the bridge that crossed over to the spire that they were heading to.

It was different from rest of the cities architecture. A closed bridge with a fifteen foot ceiling, the walls where done in white stone, and the floor in black granite. Huge arched windows lined the bridge, hung with thick curtains of a flowing black material that gave a sweeping view of the canyon city.

"Why is this area so different from the rest of the city?" asked Harry.

"The spire we are heading to contains portals to several of the major Realms and a few important places on Earth that the goblin nation keeps diplomatic contact with," explained Jack. "The entire thing was transformed into embassies so it's considered neutral territory and decorated differentially to reflect that. Most traffic in and out of the realm goes through here so it also provides security for the goblins to have everyone foreign in one place. The portals from Gringotts are usually only used by Gringotts Goblins so the security is less. We got to use it because of my relation to the goblins."

"Speaking of which, what was that thing about the moons you said in Gringotts?"

"Oh, that," sighed Jack. "Both the goblins and the Hortmaw were pretty much primitive tribes when they first came here. It was about two thousand years before they expanded enough to run into each other. The goblins came to worship the three moons like gods. They still consider them very important even if they aren't out right worshiped any more. The goblin nation is ruled by a triumvirate of clans. Those three main clans are each represented by one of the moons. Then, there are lesser clans under each of the three main ones. The Gringotts goblins are a lesser clan directly blood related to one of the three main clans. Thus they are pretty important and it's traditional to give a blessing of the Moons in dealings with members of influential clans."

Harry nodded in understanding as they reached the end of the bridge and stepped through another set of doors into a spacious lobby. White marble formed the floor of the large two story room. Columns rose along the walls. In the center of the room was a long desk with several people that were clearly security sitting at it. Behind them there were several doors and several staircases. Jack had to present some papers to one of the security officers at the desk.

In a few moments they were let through and walked up one of the stairs two floors. Taking a left down a plush carpeted hallway Jack stopped in front of a pair of redwood double doors. Over them was a bronze plaque that read ROMA Embassy.

"What's the ROMA?" asked Harry.

"The Republic of the Magical Americas," answered Jack. "It's the government that controls the magical interests of everything in the eastern hemisphere on Earth."

"That a lot of people." Harry was a little shocked. He hadn't heard anyone at Hogwarts mention anything about the fact that half the world, magical at least, was one country. "But you always said you went back to the States. I thought you meant the United States."

"I did. The ROMA is separated in to states that handle certain areas of the country. Basically, each non-magical nation in the Americas corresponds to a state in the ROMA. Though technically the larger countries like the US and Canada are split into a few smaller states, they don't act like it. I just say States because I'm going back to both the ROMA states and the non-magical United States geographically."

Jack pulled open the doors and they stepped through into a moderately decorated lobby. Jack quickly walked over to a desk and talked to one of the clerks. Harry petted Fen while Jack signed a couple papers before motioning Harry to follow him through a door at the back of the room. On either side of the door a man and a woman were standing guard. Though they were merely wearing business suits Harry was sure they weren't to be messed with. They had to have some kind of magical weapon on them, but also next to each of them was an apparently decorative sword stand that held a gladius. Harry was sure that the guards could use those swords if needed, and since they apparently were confident in having them displayed so casually out in the open. Harry shuddered a little.

Through the door was a simple room. There were benches along the wall next to the door, but they were the only furniture in the room. In the back near the far wall was an arch that had to be the device that controlled the portal. It was a dull gold with a carved griffin on either side and was large enough for three people to walk through shoulder to shoulder. The griffin's wings were raised in front of them and touched to form the arch. There was another guard standing next to the arch. Jack went forward and handed him a piece of paper which the guard looked over before nodding.

"Have a pleasant trip gentleman," said the guard as he moved his hand to something Harry couldn't see on the back of the arch before muttering something softly under his breath. Another slow pulse of magic came out as the portal activated and then a vague swirling pattern could be seen in the air inside the arch. Jack stepped up to the portal with Harry this time and Fen happily raced between them disappeared into the portal. Harry blinked. Fen seemed to become transparent for a brief second before completely disappearing. It was a little weird to see. Jack just rolled his eyes. He nodded to Harry and they both stepped into the portal at the same time.

#####################################################################################

After his last trip through a portal Harry wasn't sure exactly what to expect on the other side this time. He knew they should be going back to Earth, but he wasn't sure where they were coming out. When his vision cleared from the blurring he found himself standing inside a gigantic dome. The dome was about thirty yards in diameter and made almost entirely of glass. Designs were cut into the glass so that Harry almost thought that he could make of shapes in the beams of sunlight coming through the dome.

In front of them was a security check point in front of a hallway that ran out of the dome towards a modern looking office building. Looking out through the dome Harry saw that they were on a slightly forested island overlooking a white sand beach.

"Where are we?" he asked Jack.

"Off the coast of Georgia," Jack answered. "The island is hidden for security reasons. You can only get here a limited number of ways. Come on we have something to take care of fast."

The guard at the security check point at the entrance to the office building knew Jack on sight and directed them to a side room before the main security check point. Inside was a desk with two chairs and solid silver disk with a circle of runes carved into it. The man sitting behind the desk looked up as they entered.

"Mr. Cronos, that's right. Then this would be Mr. Potter?" The man looked at Harry questioningly and nodded yes. It was a little weird, but refreshing to not be recognized on sight like he was in England.

"What are we doing?" Harry asked.

"Mr. Cronos and Headmaster Dragus have arranged for you to get a ROMA passport to ease your transit in and out as well as around the country. All the paperwork has already been filled out, so all that we need to do is conduct the scan and we will be good."

"Scan?" asked Harry.

"ROMA passports contain a scan of your genetic and magical signature as well as much unique facets of your magic that can be determined with only a moderate scan. This means that your passport can be set so only you will be able to access the information inside and thus use it as a means on identification. It helps prevent identity theft and is the best protection without drastic invasions of privacy. The measures used to be less strict but had to be changed to those we currently use," answered the man. "Is this fine with you Mr. Potter?"

"Uh, Jack?"

"It's ok, Harry," Jack reassured him. "It's simple and painless and easy. Plus having the passport is important. Here look at mine."

Jack pull out a thin black leather bound passport. He flipped it open to reveal only two pieces of white paper. The one on the left was blank and the one on the right had a thumb sized oval at the bottom right hand corner. Jack adjusted his grip so that his right thumb was on the oval. There was a low flash and then both pages were covered in writing. The pages had also shifted to a distinctive parchment. A seal of a flying griffin that Harry assumed was the ROMA's was in the upper left hand corner. Next to it was a photo of Jack that slowly rotated. The rest of the two pages were filled with different information about Jack.

When Jack pulled his finger off the oval the passport went blank again.

"See no issue," said Jack.

"Ok," replied Harry. "What do I need to do?"

The man had Harry step up on the silver disk. A soft scarlet glow shined in the runes before a ring of scarlet runes rose from the disk and began to rise up around Harry's body. It came up above his head and then passed back over him and back into the disk. Harry shivered. The scan had felt like someone had run a cold metal bar over him.

A rectangular screen appeared over the desk and a keyboard lit up on the surface. The man spent a few minutes checking over the results of the scan before pushing a few buttons. The screen and keyboard disappeared and a slot opened on top of the desk. Harry's new pass port ejected cleanly from desk. The man picked it up and had Harry test to make sure it worked correctly before handing it over.

"Have a good stay in the ROMA, Mr. Potter," he said as Jack led him back out of the room. At the security checkpoint Harry had to activate the passport and hold it under a scanner before being let through. He was glad it had worked. Harry walked past the checkpoint to where Jack and Fen were waiting for him.

"Ok you ready to go?" asked Jack.

Harry was about to say yes when his brain finally caught up to something that had been nagging him.

"Hey, Jack. We're going to be over here awhile right?"

"Yeah, probably a month. Why?"

"Why did we leave my trunk with all my clothes in London with Mr. Thompson then?" asked Harry.

"Uh, it should have been sent over already so we can pick it up," Jack answered.

"Why couldn't we have brought it with us when we went through the portals?"

"Because the goblins wouldn't have let us take it through. They have very strict rules on what they let through."

"Not the it wasn't an amazing trip, but why didn't we just go the same way you sent the luggage over here then?" asked Harry. Jack looked a little guilty.

"Uh, probably because, uh, the International Confederation of Wizards just might have issued a non-travel restriction for you. So it's basically, um, an international crime to take you out of Great Britain."

**AN:** Thanks again to thunderous for beta'ing the chapter. Not much to say really other than that reviews would be greatly appreciated.

**Review Responses:** Thanks to Therio for reviewing!


	4. Setting Off

**Author's Note:** This is the sequel to my AU story A New Path and covers Harry's second year at Hogwarts. This story is a significant AU so read A New Path before this story. This is completely un-betaed since I haven't been in contact with my beta for awhile.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter everything original is mine. I get no profit from this.

**Chapter 3: Setting Off**

"What?" asked a flabbergasted Harry. "Why the hell is it illegal for me to leave the country? Why would they even have the right to do that?"

"I have no idea," replied Jack. "I was going to invite you back for the winter holidays but when Erlor went looking into the details of arranging the trip he found the non-travel order. Last we talked about it he still hadn't figured out exactly why they passed it."

"Shouldn't there be a record of why they made it? Come on they can't just tell me I can't do something without a reason." Harry was starting to get angry.

"It's annoying as all shit for sure," Jack replied scowling. "Erlor asked the ROMA diplomats to look into it, but someone is stonewalling them. Thus the, _creative_, means of beginning our trip. They can't exactly complain about you leaving when they don't acknowledge the existence the Realms. Oh, the lawyers will have fun with that one."

"So exploit a technicality?" Jack just grinned. Harry suddenly thought of something and grinned. "So, didn't you _technically_ kidnap me?"

"Hey!" Jack spluttered. "I don't see you complaining."

"Of, course not," said Harry. "You're not going to get into trouble for this are you?"

"Who cares?" Jack shrugged. "I'm not that worried about it. They can try but it will get stuck in red tape. Forget about, it lets just enjoy the summer."

"Sure, where are we headed to now?" asked Harry.

"The Amazon."

"The jungle?" Harry blinked.

"Yep, somewhere in Brazil. We're going to visit a local magus."

"A magus, really? Cool."

"Yep," replied Jack. "Now let's go. There should be a courier with our stuff for the summer waiting for us outside."

"So exactly how are we going to get to the Amazon?" asked Harry as they walked out of the building.

"Well the ROMA has a magical teleportation network that connects all the ma…ah, damn it," Jack trawled off before scowling. "What the hell are you doing here?"

When Harry looked up there was a car parked in front of the building with a man leaning against it. He stood around six feet tell with close cropped blonde hair. A black leather trench coat covered some kind of military uniform in a deep navy. As the man stood up and started toward them the coat fluttered to the side and Harry saw that a gun was strapped to his right hip and some type of short sword was hanging from his left. He was grinning as he came over.

"Well it's good to see you too, Jack. Why can't you ever be happy to see me?"

"Because I hate having a bodyguards?" Jack turned toward Harry still scowling. "Harry this is Lt. Peter Regis of the ROMA legions."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Potter," said Lt. Regis. "Ignore Jack, he gets crabby every time we get called in to watch out for him."

"Hey!"

"Do you need bodyguards often Jack?" Harry asked smirking.

"Of course not!" Jack retorted.

"Only occasionally, maybe once or twice a year," answered Lt. Regis.

"I only get assigned ROMA body guards if it's serious," explained Jack. "Speaking of which, you never answered my question, Peter. Why are you here?"

"The ROMA has received several death threats on both you and some high government officials," the lieutenant answered, his face becoming more serious. Harry gulped after he finished talking.

"And that's different from a normal month how?" asked Jack.

"Intelligence has yet to determine who sent them. Also the threats on the government officials gave detailed information about certain security information. It was all outdated but only by a month or so and that information should not have been available period."

Jack frowned. "That's not good. I guess that explains why Jameson was following us in Diagon."

"How did you know?" asked Regis at the same time Harry asked, "We were being followed?"

"Yeah, Fen was on to him as soon as we left Prometheus."

The lieutenant laughed. "Why am I not surprised. Jameson is going to be so pissed."

"Well back on topic, I can tolerate having you around, even if Fen is more than enough protection," said Jack. "You can stand around and look pretty."

Regis snorted, "Yeah, yeah Jack.

"Uh Jack?" asked Harry.

"Yeah?"

"You're being a little nonchalant about getting death threats. That's a little weird."

"It happens more than you think, Harry," replied Jack. "I am one of the richest people in the Realms much less Earth and that attracts attention anyway. But also my family has been in diplomacy for a long time. That makes enemies, not to mention some competing companies that wouldn't mind if I disappeared. It happens once or twice a year. Though I'm usually safe within the ROMA itself, these threats must have particularly rattled the government. Anyway don't worry about it, we'll be perfectly fine. Especially with Peter here."

"Ok, this is just a little new to me, but I trust you," said Harry.

"Then are you guys ready to go then?" asked Regis.

#####################################################################################

After pulling their luggage out of the car that the lieutenant had shown up in, including a briefcase that looked like it was made to withstand extreme impacts and conditions, they headed to a building across from the one they had just exited leaving the car in the roundabout between the buildings. Their luggage had been shrunk down and placed in a duffel bag before it was sent in the car so it would be easier to carry but for some reason the briefcase hadn't been shrunk.

"Alright the train is waiting for us so we should get moving," said Regis.

"Wait a minute, why are we taking the Line?" asked Jack. "The Nexus would be faster."

"Except that our little package," Regis motioned to the briefcase, "apparently doesn't play well with the network. So land transport it is."

"Well damn. So much for a quick trip," Jack scowled.

"Oh, come on it won't be that bad. But we better be going."

Regis led them to another building on the circle his car was parked on. When they entered it was obvious that this was some kind of transportation hub. Boards of arrival and departure times hung prominently from the vaulted ceiling. Maps of the western hemisphere showed had the major cities of the ROMA posted on them were hung on the wall near information counters. After exiting the main lobby down a central staircase, they stepped out onto a platform over looking three sets of tracks.

"This train network stretches over the entirety of the ROMA," explained Regis. "This particular station really only sees diplomatic traffic from the Realms so it's not usually very busy. There's the train that's waiting for us." He pointed to the furthest track.

Harry had guessed when he heard that they were by train that it would be something like the Hogwarts Express, but he was wrong. Instead of an older style turn of the century train, a sleek modern one sat on the tracks. It only had three cars trailing the engine, and they entered the second to last. The interior was open with couches and arm chairs seated around tables with a center aisle that ran the length of the car. Jack and Harry took seats around one of the tables while Regis dropped the luggage near them before going to tell the conductor that they were ready to go. Harry and Jack were chatting when Regis got back. He pulled off his coat and threw it over the back of one of the chairs along with the sword he had been wearing before sitting in the chair next to Harry.

"Alright, we'll be under way in a few minutes. The trip should take about four hours."

"Four hours?" asked Jack. "I thought the Cross Gulf Line was supposed to have cut the trip down to just an hour or so? Wasn't it was supposed to be done a month ago?"

"Oh, you didn't hear? The construction got halted," replied Regis.

"No, Erlor didn't mention anything," Jack went on as the train slowly began moving. "Granted he also didn't mention that we would have to take the Line at all."

"Does he usually forget to mention things?" Harry asked.

"Not usually but then again whatever he has been talking about with Fudge has been putting him on edge lately," Jack leaned back. "Not that I know what that is either."

"Is that why he picked you up at King's Cross?"

"Yeah. They are talking about some international event or something," Jack turned to Regis. "So why did they stop constructing the Line? It wasn't problems with the merpeople was it?"

"No, the merpeople are honoring the agreement ."

"Merpeople?" asked Harry.

"Territorial bastards," explained Regis. "The rail line is being constructed along the floor of the gulf of Mexico. But the quickest route across to South America passes through a merpeople's colony. There were problems and a little violence before an agreement could be worked out to plan a specific path for the Line."

"So then what is stopping the construction?"

"Well the Line was finished to about the half way point when the crews scouting and clearing the next construction area picked up something that hadn't been caught in the initial scan. Something was burrowed under were the Line was supposed to be laid down."

Jack sat up, "Burrowed? As in something alive?"

"Oh yeah, and the best they've been able to determine whatever it is it's pretty damn big at that."

"What could it be?"

"They have no clue," answered Regis. "That the creature, whatever it is, didn't show up on the first scans of the area is confusing all the engineers and mages involved in the project. All operations in the area were stopped until more about the creature could be found out."

"Why can't the Line be built around where it's burrowed?" asked Harry.

"That section of the track was the area in the most contention with the merpeople. It runs very close to one of their larger cities and their best agricultural growing areas. It took most of the negotiations to let the Line go past there. And on the other side is ….."

"The Maelstrom," Jack cut in. "The creature is buried right next to the Maelstrom of Jarion. Holy shit."

"Huh, what's the Maelstrom?" Harry decided he really needs to get used to every topic today being about something he wasn't familiar with.

"It's an endless whirlpool on the floor of the Gulf about three miles in diameter and half a mile high. Magic drives it to spin at somewhere near two hundred miles per hour. It's one of the most dangerous locations on Earth and also a natural magical wonder," explained Jack.

"Someone is still a little annoyed the Headmaster still hasn't taken him to see it yet." Regis casually commented. Jack threw him a nasty look.

"Well he hasn't and yes I really want to go see it. Especially considering it's a….," Jack paused. "That's why everyone is freaked out about the Line and the creature. The Maelstrom is centered on a wellspring! Their worried the creature might wake up when the wellspring is opened."

"Probably," Regis said shrugging. "Haven't heard much about the discussions on what to do. The Legion was called in but it's not our area."

"It would make sense. I wonder when they are going to unseal the wellspring then. I'm pretty sure Erlor said the Prometheus team was almost ready to attempt it."

"Ok I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but what is a wellspring?" asked Harry.

Jack stopped and paused again before looking serious.

"Well now is as good a time as any to tell you I guess. Other than training the wellsprings are the entire point of this summer," Jack began. "Magic flows through everything in this world, I've told you that. It has currents and paths, patterns and ebbs in the flow across the planet. Every living thing has magic and takes more in with every breath. All that magic doesn't just exist, it's not eternal, and it is used up in the natural course of things. Wellsprings are the places in the world where new magic comes into our world and joins the flows already here. They can be called the source of life for this world. In total there are around three hundred give or take spread across the entire globe."

"So, they generate the magic for the world?" asked Harry.

"Uh, well it would be better to say that they serve as openings through which magic flows into the world."

"Then where does it come from?"

"Hell if I know," Jack shrugged. "People have been trying to figure that one out for ages. It's one of the great mysteries of magic."

"What are they like? I mean, Hogwarts is intensely magical but somewhere I would think that somewhere magic comes into the world would be incredible." Harry's magic sensitivity allowed him to feel the magic flowing around him. In Hogwarts the magic was firm, strong, and flowing with a vibrant pulse that just re-enforced the sense of majesty the castle always gave him. Having the opportunity to go to a source of magic excited greatly a stirred something deep inside him.

"Every wellspring is unique," Jack replied. "They all are sources of different types of magic but even the ones that spill out the same type of magic are different. Honestly, I don't know what to expect. That's half the fun though. Funny you should mention Hogwarts though, it sits atop a wellspring."

"Really?"

"You wouldn't have noticed it. It sits in a cavern deep under the castle. Plus until recently it was sealed. Less than ten percent of the magic that should have been flowing from the wellspring was being released. I barely sensed it last year and I knew it was there. But Erlor and I unsealed it the day with left Hogwarts. You should see Hogwarts now; it's gone through a few _changes_."

"And of course you're not going to say anything more until we get back to the castle are you?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Harry just rolled his eyes. "The one under Hogwarts was tied into the wards and the castle by the Founders when they built the castle. It happens to be one of the seven most powerful wellsprings in the world. Those are the only seven that are sources of pure magic."

Harry blinked in surprise, he hadn't been expecting that.

"Now I want to get back to the castle and we still have two months left of break."

Jack chuckled, "Oh, don't worry I think that the summer will be interesting enough. We'll be visiting two wellsprings before we go back."

"And one of them is in Brazil?"

"Yep, the local magus lives very close so we'll be staying there. So anyway," Jack said before turning back to Regis. "What else do you know about the Maelstrom? Come on I can't believe that you don't know anything. The Legion gossips like crazy."

"Oh, give me a break," Regis rolled his eyes, "even though that's true, we're never around the bases long enough."

"Give him a break Jack, there's nothing to tell anyway," said a voice behind Harry.

Harry jumped, startled. Before Harry could react, Regis had drawn his weapon spun and lined up a shot all in the second right after the voice had spoken.

"Damn it to hell Dragus!" Regis snarled as he lowered his gun. "Would you quit doing that!"

"Oh calm down Peter. You're always so jumpy," Erlor chuckled as he walked around and sat in the chair next to Jack.

"Mr. Dragus, where did you come from?" asked Harry. He hadn't felt the slight shift in the magic around him that usually accompanied someone magical coming within a few feet of him. Erlor had got within a foot of his back without him realizing anything.

Erlor just chuckled. "Who said I came from anywhere?" Jack just got a ridiculous grin on his face.

"Give him a break, Erlor. He's not really here, Harry. It's an image sending."

"You're not really here?" Harry asked before pausing and opening his Sight. Erlor's form and detail faded away to be replaced by an intricately flowing spell pattern that formed out the shape of a human body. Whatever the spell was it the most complex thing that Harry had ever seen. Rune trails formed vague views of bones and skin, while formless flows substituted for blood circulation and organs. Harry was sure that without the Sight or previous knowledge about the spell would have no idea that it was an illusion.

"No I'm not here," Erlor replied. "This is just something I use whenever I can't get away from whatever I'm working on. In this case I wanted to check in before you arrived in Brazil, but I have been stuck in meetings with Minister Fudge for the past few days and it doesn't look like they are going to end anytime soon."

"He was more than a little annoying at the Malfoy's Yule Ball," Harry said. "What do you have to meet him about?

"That is something you don't need to know about," Jack let out an annoyed noise. "When you need to know about it, Jack, I'll tell you, so you can stop bugging me about it."

"Oh," Regis leaned forward, "is that thing that's going to happen in a few years?"

Harry missed whatever exasperated comment that Jack responded with because when he turned to look at Regis as he almost froze in shock. Regis had no aura. Granted almost every piece of clothing or item he carried was enchanted and the spell patterns shown bright and clear, but there was no aura to obscure any of it. Besides the enchantments the only magic around Regis was the natural magic within him. But the only people he had seen with his Sight that didn't have auras were his relatives. That would mean…

"You're not a wizard!"

**AN:** First of all sorry for the long break. Due to a variety of things that have been happening in my life I haven't been writing. But I'm going to be getting back into it now. So hopefully it won't take me that long to get the next chapter out. Merry Christmas to everyone and Happy Holidays!

**Review Responses:**

Therio, RRW, Kethatril, verox29: Thanks you guys for the reviews it really means a lot to me!


End file.
